Juris Hartmanis: The Beginnings of Computational Complexity

Abstract

I wish to commend the organizing committee for the 1988 Structures Symposium on their plan to honor Juris Hartmanis with this series of talks on his career2. This is a very appropriate tribute since complexity theory is now approximately 25 years old and Juris has been a prime mover in the field throughout its history. I was privileged to have worked with Hartmanis during the early period of his complexity research, and I am grateful for this opportunity to reminisce about this time period and the beginnings of complexity.